A conventional printing device, such as a printer or a typewriter, as shown in FIG. 5, comprises a platen 1 adapted to support a printing sheet 3 fed from a sheet supplying device 2, a printing head 4 for printing on the printing sheet 3 while moving in the axial direction of the platen 1, a paper guide member 5 for supporting the printing head 4 and guiding the printing sheet 3, and a carriage 33 for supporting the paper guide member 5.
The printing device further comprises a paper bail 6 above the paper guide member 5. The paper bail 6 is for winding the printing sheet 3 on the platen 1.
In printing operations performed with such a printing device, the part of the printing sheet 3 that is located between the retaining position of the paper bail 6 and the printing position cannot be used for printing. It may be possible to try to print on the very beginning of the printing sheet 3; however, it would be impossible to feed the printing sheet 3 smoothly because the sheet 3 would not be retained by the paper bail 6.